Flight's booked - already?? Week 81. Serving in Laoag

Hey family! This week was crazy. First off, I booked my travel stuff, same with Elders T and T2. It's a pretty random flight path. Usually they go through Hong Kong to LA and on from there, but we all go through Tokyo and Seattle. I was hoping to get one like I booked for Elder Z (from Scarborough, I think) who flies to Manila and then straight to New York City. But I guess it wasn't meant to be. I am still not terribly excited about it, I feel a little sick thinking I only have four transfers left.

We had a random exchange with the Claveria zone leaders on Monday because they came down early for ZLC (which was on Tuesday and Wednesday). So I worked with Elder A, who was Elder T's comp when we were four of us in Camalaniugan. It was fun. We taught this one nanay and her family who are one of our 15 focus families. I don't think she really likes white people. I would teach her in perfectly pronounced and perfectly structured Tagalog and she would sit and stare blankly and then after I was done, look at my companion and say, "What did he say?"

This week we went to practice teaching with the zone leaders (zone leader conference is now held at the institute building in Centro). We were to pretend we were one of our investigators and then seriously practice teaching and the ZL's were to apply directly what they had just been taught. I was G, our investigator who is the chief nurse at the Laoag General Hospital. In the past he hasn't quite grasped why we were there, he kept wanting us to go to his parties and stuff. During the practice teaching I got a lot of revelation as to how we could help him. This week we went and taught him. We watched "17 Miracles" with him. Partway through, we doubted and thought, " Why did we show him this movie? Bad choice". But at the end we talked about why missionaries are sent through the world and after watching the sacrifices of the early saints, he was better able to understand. We told him we are not there to party and he understood. Then when we asked if we could come back and teach another time he, accepted. (crafty man set the date for the time of his nurse party... but still, I think he gets it now). He said he would go to church next Sunday.

Elder K and I are having some fun with finding people. We walked by a house and decided to knock it. It had a gate with a yard and then the house. We yelled "tao po" and then an old tatay comes out on the porch and has something in his hands (it was dark out). Then he put the thing on a table and pulled out a box. Then we realized what it was: a rifle! He was loading bullets into it! So we called over again and told him to come over and talk to us. He did and he left his gun on the porch. Then we explained who we are and asked to come in. He said that his son told him no one is allowed to enter his house. So we decided to just plant a Book of Mormon there. So as we were getting it out, we asked what he was doing earlier and he said cooking. We asked, "what's that over on the table?" He said it was a gun. So we asked if he was loading it and he said yes. We gave him the Book of Mormon. His wife came out at that moment and got REALLY angry at seeing us there and started freaking out and yelling. Then once Tatay had taken the book we asked why he was loading his gun and he just went off freaking out in Ilocano! So we left. It was a weird experience.

Okay, so I got a little news. We did some service work this week with the assistants in their area. On Thursday morning we went to a less active family's house and moved big logs for them. It reminded me of home a bit. Anyway  they were huge logs and we were moving them from the back of their house (which is forest, and the wood was down one of the trails) to the front by the road so they could load it into a truck. It was way fun, and a really good workout. But at one point when I was unloading a big slab of wood it slipped and fell on my lower abdomen on the left side. It hurt a bit but I kept going and the pain went away.

After we were done we went back to the mission home and played basketball a bit and I was still fine. Then after I showered and stuff I felt pain in my left side. It was pretty painful so I asked Sister B about it and she said I probably had a hernia and that I should get it checked and that I might have to go to St Luke's in Manila. So I went to the Laoag General Hospital and I was told not to work, so I rested the first day and then went out to work the second day... bad idea. It hurt so bad. Then I followed what they told me and went back and sat with my legs up and ice on the bruised area. Only we have no ice so I go this random old bag of refried beans sister O made way back, and have been using that. That'll make a good story.  So, yeah... I am going to Manila today. But I am fine.

Lesson-wise this week, we taught P and S and told S her baptism is postponed again. She has been wondering why that keeps happening and I think she finally got it - that it is not up to us but up to her. We told her the only thing stopping her is regular church attendance as a family. So yesterday, the whole family was there! The issue is that they are worried that their son will be noisy and disruptive at church. So we took it upon ourselves to keep him busy. We printed off some colouring pictures and I sat with him and coloured all sacrament meeting.

Also we are teaching a group of people in brgy Nalbo, not far from the mission home. One is the daughter of one of our other investigators but we met them separately, her brother-in-law, who we thought was a woman, (says he is a bakla or gay, and his long time friend - he is also a Bakla). He is really smart. We taught him the basics and then he asked if it is bawal to be gay. We told him first, that God loves him and nothing he could ever do could change that. We also told him that we teach everyone regardless of their beliefs and that we will always come back and teach the doctrine as long as it is accepted. Then we told him that God's first commandment is to go forth and multiply and that the Church of Jesus Christ is centred on families which is a man, woman and children. He got it right away. We told him that he may disagree right away but we asked him to not be offended and to keep listening. We are going to go baby steps with him, help him gain a testimony of each thing first and eventually our commitment will be to try to follow the law of chastity - fully.

 Pres Monson's talk at the last general conference was sweet where you see people as they could be. So I see him in a white shirt and tie and long pants with short hair and as a priesthood holder. He is actually really cool. No one has ever really respected him. Instead, people laugh at him for being a bakla.

So that was my crazy week!
 I love you guys!
Elder Dustan